Kande Beach in Malawi was a great spot and horse riding there was one of the trip highlights. It is not everyday you get to ride bareback in a bikini and take your horse swimming! The horses were lovely and very well looked after. As Cherie, Claire and myself have all done a lot of horse riding, they gave us some fun horses and took us on a fast ride through the forests and wetlands, then on to the beach. Eventually, we ended up back at camp where we took the saddles off, changed into swim wear and took the horses into the lake to cool off.
I mentioned in my last blog post that there were riots in Mzuzu. As it turned out, there was also rioting in Lilongwe and Blantyre (protests against the government). Not sure how much of this made the British news, but about 18 people were killed and for a while we weren't sure if this would mean changing our route. As it turned out, we were still able to pass through Lilongwe en route to Zambia as things had calmed down by the time we were due to leave Kande Beach.
So Zambia is country number eight of the trip. After camping in Chipata (a town 30km from the border), we took the bumpy road out to South Luangwa National Park. Not many overland trucks bother to do this as the road is bad. A new road is being built but this is Africa so it could be a while before it is actually finished. However, it is a trip worth making as our camp site on the river was probably one of my favourite spots in Africa to date. You hardly even need to bother going on game drives as you can see so much just from camp. It is pretty special to be able to lie in a hammock by the river and watch hippos, crocs, elephants and giraffes. The riverbank is too steep for the crocs to get into camp, but hippos graze outside your tent at night and the elephants tramp through camp whenever they feel like it. I cannot believe how quiet elephants can be considering the size of them. You do have to be careful at night if you need to get up to go to the toilet - I made sure to strategically position my tent close to the bathrooms for that very reason. It's not good when you need to go in the middle of the night and you can hear animal noises all around! Most of us did an evening game drive whilst in Luangwa which was good. Sadly, the leopards and lion kills continued to elude us but we did have a hyena walk right by the jeep within touching distance.
From Luangwa, we spent the best part of three days driving across Zambia to get to Livingstone / Victoria Falls where we are now based for four nights. Four whole nights in one place is a first for us on this trip but it is flying by and already two nights have passed and it won't be long before we are on our way again. Livingstone is home to lots of adrenalin junkie activities. Really, I would need at least a week here and unlimited cash to do everything. I always thought before coming to Africa that I would raft the Zambezi but as it turns out, the water is high at the moment and not all the rapids are open. Given we've already had an awesome rafting experience on the Nile, we've therefore opted to give rafting a miss. Instead, yesterday I took a microlight flight over the Falls. I've never been in a microlight before so it was a cool experience albeit a little scary at first! A spectacular way to see the Falls and get a different perspective. Also really good seeing hippos and elephants from the air.
After the flight, I spent the rest of the day watching some of the group take on the "Big Air" Experience. This is a zip wire, a bungee and a bridge swing. I have to be honest, I used to love stuff like this but when I walked out onto the bridge yesterday (it's the third highest bungee in the world), I was actually quite glad that I had decided not to do it! And we are going to the highest bungee in the world in South Africa later in the trip so if I decide to do a bungee again in my lifetime, then it will be there....
That's it from me for now. I've probably missed lots of things out, but I'm not firing on all cylinders after last nights sunset cruise (for "sunset", read unlimited booze). That followed by the coldest night camping so far means I am sleep deprived...
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